


Memories

by Silverwinged



Series: Silverwing's "Canon" Stories [1]
Category: World of Warcraft
Genre: F/F, Origin Story, Original Character(s), high elf
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-09
Updated: 2018-07-09
Packaged: 2019-06-07 22:42:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15229527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silverwinged/pseuds/Silverwinged
Summary: A Dark Ranger named Velexis Silverwing recalls the events of her life, years before the Scourge Invasion on Quel'thalas.





	Memories

**Author's Note:**

> These are all my own characters from World of Warcraft, and the stories I write about them. This is one of the first stories I post, so go easy on me. I know I've still got a long way to go until my writing is a nice/easy read, but I hope that by uploading these I'll get some motivation to write more! Enjoy!

A cloaked figure stood on a tower in the Ruins of Lordaeron, looking at the grey skies overhead.  
She let out a deep sigh.  
“That day, huh?” A voice behind her said. She turned around and looked at the dark ranger Nathanos, the Banshee Queen’s favored champion.  
“You didn’t really come up here for a pep-talk, did you?” She replied. The undead moved to stand next to her, but decided against it and crossed his arms.  
“Of course not,” he spit bluntly. “I came to tell you to get off your ass and do something other than stare at nothing. Go on patrol, anything but this waste of time.”  
She watched him turn back to the spiral staircase.  
“Thanks, Nath.”  
The dark ranger paused his steps, glanced at her and nodded before continuing. 

“Velexis, by the Light.” Her mother’s voice sounded irritated, as usual. “For once, will you put your hair up?”  
The young elf huffed in equal annoyance as her mother grabbed the comb.  
“I don’t like my hair in such a fancy style. I look like you!”  
“So you’d rather have it fall in your face during conversation?” Her mother asked.  
Velexis grinned. “Exactly!”  
The smile quickly faded as her mother continued to pull her hair into a bun.  
“You’re going to meet important people,” her mother explained. “You need to look your best. First impressions are important.”  
Velexis rolled her eyes. She never makes a good impression on anyone in this city.  
“I’m sure my hair is the biggest problem.”  
Not the fact that, pretty much everyone in Silvermoon is some form of mage, or a paladin, or a priest. Anything magical. She can barely conjure fire.  
“There!” Her mother stepped back to inspect her handiwork. “Now put on a dress and get ready.” She left the room after.. well, that command.  
“A bloody DRESS?” Velexis groaned. Whoever made dresses clearly doesn’t like movement much. She made a disgusted face as she pulled out the dark blue dress from her wardrobe and quickly put it on to get it over with.  
“Am I allowed to eat anything or will that mess something up too?” She shouted. Her reflection in the mirror glared back at her. She wanted to throw something at it.  
“Lexi, why do you look so angry?” Her brother chirped as he came into her room.  
“Because I am,” she replied as she brushed past him. She grabbed a piece of bread and put it in her mouth. “You don’t have to deal with a tyrannical mother.”  
“Well, I suppose she goes a little easier on me.”  
“A little?” Velexis repeated, raising her eyebrows. “Please.”  
She took another bite as her mother joined them.  
“Velexis, don’t take such big bites! It’s impolite.”  
Velexis gestured wildly at her mother as she looked at her brother. He just shrugged.  
“Where are we going, mother?” He asked.  
“We’re going to meet with a lovely family,” her mother said. “Perhaps you know one of their children? Embergaze?”  
“I’ve never met them.” Her brother put his hands behind his back, which she rolled her eyes at.  
“Well, you will.” Her mother gave her a meaningful look. “Let’s get going then!”  
They walked through the streets of Silvermoon in silence.  
Well, Velexis did. Her mother and brother were chatting loudly to each other. Why were they meeting these random new people, anyway?  
“Here we are,” her mother said, interrupting her thoughts. She knocked on the door. “Velexis, stand straight.”  
She sighed but did as she was told. The door was opened by a short-haired girl, who was quickly shoved aside by a tall man with long blonde hair.  
“Welcome! So nice to finally meet all of you,” he said with a bow, rather loudly. “Come in, please.”  
Velexis and her brother awkwardly shuffled after their mother.  
“Thank you! Oh, your home is lovely!” Her mother said in an exasperated tone. “Oh, nice to see you, dear!”  
A woman in a red robe went to embrace her mother. Velexis looked behind her to see the man grumbling something to the girl, who hurried off.  
“Well, go in!” He said to the two siblings. “Let me introduce you to my children!”  
“Shouldn’t you introduce yourself first?” Velexis asked in a monotone voice. Her mother glared at her but the man laughed.  
“You’re absolutely right, child! I’m Ithelan, and this is my wife Nardana.” He gestured to the woman in the red robe, who had gold-blonde hair. The woman bowed her head to the two.  
“So nice to meet you, Velexis and Arix.”  
Velexis sat down, or was more pushed down, on the sofa. Her brother sat next to her.  
“How do you know our names?” She asked. The girl from before appeared again, holding a plate with glasses.  
“Your mother told us.” Ithelan said as he patted the table. The girl placed the glasses down as two others came into the room. “Ah, there you are! These are my children, Orelis and Elestra.”  
Both of them had the same gold-blonde hair as their mother. The girl looked rather bored.  
“Thank you, father.” Orelis bowed his head to Velexis. “A pleasure to meet you, miss.”  
Elestra looked her up and down before glancing at her brother. She picked up two glasses from the table and offered one to Velexis.  
“Velexis, right?” She smiled.  
“Yes, thanks.” Velexis accepted the glass and took a sip. Elestra sat down between the two siblings.  
“I can’t tell you how glad I am my brother finally gets to meet you,” Elestra said casually. “He wouldn’t stop talking about you.”  
Velexis nearly choked on her drink. “What?”  
“Elestra, please..” Orelis took seat on the other sofa.  
“No, really. He kept saying how amazing and beautiful he thinks you are,” Elestra continued. “It got horribly annoying.’  
“Uhh, that’s..” Velexis didn’t have a good reply for that.  
“Not true! I only mentioned I saw you once or twice and wanted to meet you,” Orelis said innocently before he leaned in close to her. “You are beautiful, though.”  
Velexis startled and almost dropped her glass, spilling the contents on her dress. Orelis jumped back with a fully offended look on his face. “Watch it!”  
“Mind your manners, brother!” Elestra sighed. “Honestly, can’t you see how uncomfortable you make her?” She shook her head and helped her stand up.  
“Daelin, could you help Velexis with her dress, please?”  
The short-haired girl nodded and walked off to another room with Velexis.  
“Sorry about him,” she said as she grabbed a piece of cloth and dipped it in water. Velexis sighed deeply.  
“It’s not your fault this family is crazy,” Velexis said, minding the door was closed behind her. “So, Daelin, huh?”  
The girl looked at her and handed her the cloth. “Yes, that’s my name.”  
“At least you seem normal.” Velexis started wiping at her dress.  
“I thought you said this family was crazy.” Daelin grinned as she took the cloth out of Velexis’ hands. “You’re going to ruin your dress like that.”  
“Good.” Velexis paused for a moment. “Wait, you’re part of this family? They didn’t introduce you.”  
“I’m just their cousin. My uncle took me in after my parents died, as if it’s a noble thing to do.”  
“It isn’t?” Velexis hopped onto the table.  
“Not if he doesn’t adopt BOTH his cousins, is it?” Daelin shook her head. “Or, you know, don’t treat me differently than those two.” She nodded towards the door.  
“I’m sorry to hear that,’ Velexis said, sincerely for once. She jumped off the table. “I’m not going to treat you differently though. I’m Velexis Silverwing.” She held out her hand.  
Daelin eyed her suspiciously for a second before she took it. “Daelin Embergaze.”  
“Nice to meet you, love.” Velexis gave her a honest, bright smile. “Now, please tell me you have some normal clothes for me.”

A couple months passed, and they visited the Embergaze’s often, most of that time Velexis spend chatting with Daelin. One night, they had the brilliant plan of having Velexis sleep over, for absolutely no reason. She lived close by, but they insisted, saying it’ll help her bond with them. What for?  
Now she lay in an uncomfortably soft bed, unable to fall asleep. The light tapping of rain usually made her drowsy, but after tossing and turning for what seemed like hours she finally gave up, and decided to get a sip of water. She silently walked through the hallway to the kitchen through the dark, by now she knew the way by heart.  
She paused as she heard a noise, turning her head towards the door closest to her. It was creaking slightly, moving back and forth by the wind.  
As she moved to close it, a soft whimpering came from within the room. Velexis carefully opened the door further and squinted into the darkness. She barely saw anything, but she made out the movements of an elf, twitching in a way only explained by one thing; Nightmares.  
She moved into the room, silently closing the door behind her, as much as she could with a creaking door, and moved closer to the bed.  
“Psst, Daelin,” she whispered, nudging her arm when she didn’t respond right away. “Hey.”  
Daelin’s eyes shot wide open, and she quickly pushed Velexis’ hands off. “Get away!”  
“Calm down, it’s me!” Velexis turned on the nearby oil lamp. Recognition surfaced on Daelin’s face as she calmed slightly, but she bit her lip and put her arms around herself.  
“What are you doing here?” She asked.  
“I heard noises. Are you okay?”  
Daelin nodded but her fearful posture convinced Velexis otherwise.  
“Yeah, okay.” Velexis went to move the blanket. “Scoot over, love. The floor is cold.”  
Daelin moved slightly, but her small bed didn’t give the two much room. Velexis sat down next to her and put her legs under the blanket.  
“Heeeyy,” she said slowly, eyeing the bed. “How come you get a normal mattress and I need to sleep on that fluffy, cloud piece of crap?”  
Daelin laughed lightly and shook her head. “I told them the feathers made me sneeze too much.”  
“Genius!” Velexis gave her a bright smile, before it faded. “That’s not true, is it?”  
The girl shook her head.  
“Oh, good. I quite like feathers, and birds.. and such.”  
Silence filled the room for a little bit.  
“You know, I might have to stay here because I really cannot sleep on that soft thing.” Velexis joked, before she looked at Daelin and took her hand. “Do you want to talk about it?”  
Daelin sighed. “No..”  
“It might help you sleep,” Velexis insisted. Daelin gave her a slightly irritated look.  
“You’re not going to let this go, are you?”  
“Only if you want me to.” Velexis yawned as Daelin stared at their intertwined hands for a while.  
“It’s my parents.”  
“Hm?”  
“The nightmares, it’s about how they died.”  
Velexis stared at her for a moment. “How did they die? Were they killed?”  
Daelin nodded. “By a demon. The village got attacked, and they fought them. My father told me to take my little sister and hide at home, but one found its way in.”  
Silent tears rolled down her cheek as she relived the moment in her head.  
“My parents came in to kill it, but they were cut down, and the demon got away with it.” She took her hand back and furiously wiped her cheeks, but Velexis quickly hugged her.  
“I’m sorry,” Velexis said quietly. Daelin sighed and buried her face in her shoulder.  
“You’re not helping,” she sniffled.  
Velexis chuckled at her stubbornness and rubbed her back.  
“It’s okay, you’re safe now,” she said, squeezing Daelin’s arm a little after she pulled away. Daelin glanced at her.  
“Will you stay with me?”  
Velexis felt her heart skip a beat and she swore her legs would give out had she not been sitting on a bed. “Of course, love.”  
Her voice cracked slightly as she said it, but Daelin didn’t seem to notice and snuggled closer to her. Velexis put her arms around her protectively and fell asleep almost instantly. 

A few weeks later, she got the news. They were planning it all along, since the first day they met. And it’s this idiot’s fault for agreeing with it.  
“Are you insane?!” Velexis shouted. “Marriage? I’m barely old enough for this!”  
Her mother just hushed her. “If we unite our family with theirs, we will benefit so much. We’d finally fit in this society again!”  
“That’s it?” Velexis asked, as mortified as she was angry. “I have to marry someone I don’t even like because you messed up your life?”  
Her mother didn’t reply, but Ithelan put his hand on Velexis’ shoulder as if to reassure her.  
“Child, my son will take good care of you. He fancies you so much,” he said. “He even asked for this himself!”  
Velexis shook her shoulder loose and started stomping out of the room. “Well, I didn’t.”  
She took off to her usual spot on the roof, on top of their house. Her mother never found her here before, though her brother had, he didn’t tell anyone else.  
She pulled her knees to her chest and stared at the starry skies until her anger calmed down, but then tears started welling up in her eyes and she rested her head on her knees.  
“Lexi?” Arix said from the balcony below her.  
“Go away,” she replied without looking up. She heard some shuffling noises until she felt a hand on her arm. She angrily jerked her arm back.  
“I said piss off!” She glared daggers at the person next to her, but it wasn’t her brother.  
“Vel..” Daelin’s voice was quiet, like talking to an upset child. “I’m sorry.”  
She put her hand back on Velexis’ arm and sat down.  
Velexis cleared her throat. “Nothing we can do about it.”  
“Is it so bad?” Daelin asked, looking at her with big eyes. Dammit.  
“Yes.” Velexis sighed, looking away at the sky again. “I’d have no freedom left.”  
They both looked at the stars for a little while, sharing a comfortable quiet. Velexis suddenly chuckled, earning a puzzled look from Daelin.  
“Last time I felt this defeated was the day my father disappeared,” Velexis said. “He was going to teach me how to shoot, but when he was gone, my mother took away my bow and told me to learn magic, like everyone else here.”  
“Maybe someone else could teach you?” Daelin asked. “There’s the Farstriders, they use bows and stuff.”  
Velexis glanced at the tree tops sticking over the walls of Silvermoon.  
“I would love to, but I’m going to be stuck here for the rest of my life.” She put her head back on her knees. She felt Daelin’s arms go around her in an awkward hug.  
“One day you will. You just need a good reason to leave,” Daelin said. “I think getting married off might be one of them.”  
Velexis lifted her head to look at her.  
“I’ve got a pretty good reason to stay too,” she blurted out. She felt her face heat up like the sun. “Uhh, I don’t have a bow, I mean.”  
Daelin laughed.  
“Alright, if we find you one, will you go to the Farstriders?”  
“Sure?” Velexis said. She quickly hunched back down though. “I think we have about two weeks before my life is ruined for good.”  
Daelin shuffled closer to her, settling her head on her shoulder. “We’ve got time.”  
Velexis glanced at her before resting her own head on Daelin’s. 

A week and a half later, Velexis’ mother had been dragging her all over the place to plan the “party”, with a good load of complaining and grumpiness. She was completely done by the time her brother sat her down at the kitchen table. For once, her mother wasn’t home.  
“I am so tired of people putting dresses on me,” Velexis complained, holding her head in her hands. Arix handed her a cup of tea, which she instantly pushed away.  
“I’m here!” Daelin’s voice came from the other room. Velexis quickly sat straight as she came in, clearly holding a package behind her back.  
“Hey,” she said. “We’ve got something for you!”  
Daelin placed the package on the table and sat down on the chair next to her. Velexis eyed her suspiciously. She hadn’t talked to her much that week, and it seemed her brother was with Daelin a lot of times.  
“What have you two been up to?”  
“Just open it!” Daelin grinned. Velexis carefully unwrapped the package, which turned out to be a beautiful bow, with silver feathers carved into it.  
“Is that for me?” She realized this was a dumb question to ask, but it resembled her old bow, but this one was bigger and brand new.  
“Yes, I remember how much you loved your old bow,” Arix said. He leaned against the counter in a casual manner. “We had that made for you.”  
“Why?”  
Daelin huffed rather impatiently.  
“You said you’d go to the Farstriders if you had a bow.” She grabbed Velexis’ hand to get her attention. “You want to, don’t you?”  
Velexis stared at her. She wasn’t so sure of that anymore.  
“Right?” Daelin asked again.  
“I don’t know, leaving the city seems like such a big decision.”  
Arix moved closer and placed his hands on the table, leaning into them.  
“It’s what you want, isn’t it? To be a ranger, like our ancestors?”  
Velexis nodded quietly.  
“Then you should go,” Arix said, standing up straight and crossing his arms. “I will take care of mother.” He glanced at Daelin for a moment.  
“I don’t think your uncle will appreciate it if you’re late again.”  
Daelin scowled at that.  
“Right.” She looked at Velexis. “You won’t leave without saying goodbye, right?”  
Velexis gave her a sad smile. “Never.”  
“Good!” Daelin gave her a quick hug then hurried back home.  
Arix looked at Velexis.  
“So, wedding’s in three days,” he started. “Will you leave as soon as possible?”  
“I don’t know.” Velexis sighed and stroked the bow.  
“Lexi, mother is currently busy making plans. If you want to leave without her knowing, it has to be soon.” Arix sat down on the chair next to her. “I don’t understand what’s keeping you here.”  
Velexis shook her head.  
“Nothing.” She got up, bow in hand, and went to her room to get ready.  
That evening, with help from her brother, Velexis snuck through Daelin’s window to say goodbye.  
“I’m going to miss you so much,” Daelin said quietly, while giving her a tight hug. Velexis sighed softly, holding her as close as she could.  
“I’ll miss you too,” she replied. “A lot more than you know.”  
She pulled back and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. “Goodbye, love.”  
Velexis quickly jumped back out the window before she did something stupid, like cry or something. Daelin followed her to the window and looked at her sadly.  
“You’ll come back someday, right?”  
Velexis smiled at her. “For you? Of course.”  
Her brother walked her towards the gates of Silvermoon. She stopped at the entrance and looked at him.  
“Thanks, Arix,” she said, giving him an awkward sibling hug. He patted her head, effectively ruining the moment, and she pulled back.  
“Anytime, sis!” He grinned. Velexis sighed and stared at the forest ahead of her.  
“Hey, bro? Can you promise me something?” She asked, not looking at him.  
“What is it?”  
“Can you take care of Daelin?” she asked, turning to face him. “Please?”  
Arix raised his eyebrows. “What do you mean?”  
“Have you ever felt the need to protect someone, even from yourself?” Velexis shook her head, looking away at the trees again. “Because you don’t want anything bad happening to them.”  
“Maybe,” Arix replied slowly.  
“Well, just.. take care of her.” Velexis started walking away.  
“Lexi!” Arix called out. She paused and turned to him. He had a smile on his face. “You love her, you know that?”  
She stood speechless for a moment, before she nodded.  
Arix chuckled. “I’ll make sure she’s safe. But she’d feel safest with you.”  
“I doubt that.” Velexis turned and continued down the path, leaving the city and everything behind her.


End file.
